Caught in the Crossfire
by Dosu2Dinner
Summary: Twoshot. Neji and Lee's rivalry has become so intense, its having a bad effect on Tenten. Her concern makes her go out of her way to try and stop them from constantly battling, but her plan falls short and goes horribly wrong...
1. Team Feud

**Here it is, a new Naruto twoshot. I hope you enjoy. Rate&Review as always.**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto. If I did, Tenten would certainly be one of the characters I'd give more focus.**

Chapter 1: Team Feud

Tenten gazed at the bent and broken kunai that littered the forest floor. Every single one of them had been hit. As far as she could see, there was nothing to improve upon.

Neji glared at her questioningly. "Well?" he snapped.

Tenten sighed.

"You hit every one of them with perfect accuracy," she replied solemnly. "As you have been for the last two weeks…"

"So what you're saying is…" Neji interrupted, his voice rising with anger. "Is that it's exactly the same as it has always been?"

"Yes," Tenten replied forcefully.

Neji yelled in frustration and lashed out at one of the trees. The Jyuuken chakra went right through it, snapping it clean in two.

Tenten sighed again, and forced herself to keep calm.

"Well," she said. "If that's all, I'm going to go and do some of my own training, if that's OK with you?"

"What?" Neji looked around. "Oh…yes. If you must."

Tenten gathered her supplies together, and then stalked off.

When she was out of Neji's sight and earshot, she leaned against a tree and gazed up at the sky.

"Why?" she muttered to herself. "Why must they do this do each other?"

Lee had always considered Neji his rival, but Neji had never really taken this seriously…not until Lee defeated him in a sparring match.

Ever since then, all hell had broken loose. Neji was so horrified that he could be beaten by a 'failure,' that he decided to make it his mission to train relentlessly day after day. Very often, he needed someone to train with, and unfortunately for her, that someone was always Tenten. Neji often started at six in the morning, not finishing until way past midnight. This was not good for Tenten, and her lack of sleep made her extremely irritable during the day.

What made things worse, was the fact that Lee had seen Neji's intense training as a challenge. And now he had taken up relentless training too, with Tenten again to aid him of course.

"But it is a perfect strategy," Lee had assured her, as he was relentlessly using extra weights to improve his muscle dexterity. "If Neji is vexed by my newly improved ability, he will need something to take his anger out on. This will be me! If I train up enough, Neji's pugnacious tendency will be satisfied!"

But somehow Tenten doubted it. Anyway, now was not the time to be focusing on what would or would not work. She had finally got some time to train alone, as supposed to just being Neji or Lee's 'aid.'

So, moving out onto an average sized training field, she prepared some paper targets, and stuck them onto three separate trees. Something easy to start with, she thought.

She pulled three senbon from her pouch and held them in her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she ran up to the three targets and threw the senbon.

The three of them flew well, but two of them flew between the gaps in the three trees, and the third only grazed the edge of one of the trunks, and ricocheted off.

Tenten blinked. She simply could not believe what had just happened. When it came to her training, perfectly accurate aim was one thing she specialised in. It was possibly the only thing she could say to be proud of – and she had completely missed the targets. This couldn't be happening.

"_No,"_ she thought desperately. "_No, this isn't happening!"_ She couldn't have missed. She was simply thinking too much about Lee and Neji. Yeah. That must be it. Next time she just needed to focus more. Not to mention she was out of practice.

She unsheathed a kunai and balanced it in her hand. Maybe those senbon were sabotaged somehow, she thought, desperately trying to reassure herself. But this kunai was the perfect weight and had the correct aerodynamic structure. It would fly perfectly.

So, aiming at the centre target, Tenten threw the kunai.

It missed.

And it too sailed right through the trees, and this time yell was heard, one that Tenten was sure she recognised.

Sure enough, when she had followed the kunai's path through the trees, she found Naruto sitting there, a cup of instant ramen in his hand. But for once, his eyes were not on the ramen, but on a long cut across his arm. The kunai that gave him this cut, and also the one the Tenten had just thrown, was sticking into the ground.

When he saw Tenten, Naruto leapt to his feet, causing some of his ramen to decorate the ground.

"So!" he yelled angrily. "You're the one who threw this kunai at me? What do you think you were playing at?"

Normally, Tenten would have been apologetic, and, although amused, she would have helped Naruto reach medical aid, or simply healed it herself. Instead, surprising even to her, she felt anger boil up inside of her.

"You shouldn't have been in the way!" she snapped. "What sort of place is this to eat ramen anyhow?"

Naruto stared at her. Tenten then came to her senses and almost broke down. She put a hand to her mouth.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I'm sorry, Naruto. Go and see Sakura. She'll fix you up."

She then turned quickly and went back to the training field, not waiting to see whether Naruto would follow her advice or not. She collapsed to her knees, and tried her hardest not to break down.

"_Is this what's become of me?"_ she wondered. _"Is my lack of sleep and stress over Neji and Lee turning me into an obnoxious brat? Who can't even aim properly?"_

"Hey, Tenten, what's up?"

Tenten turned in the direction of the voice. Ino was walking towards her, looking puzzled.

"Oh, hi Ino," Tenten replied, returning to staring into space directly afterwards.

Ino, not to be turned away, sat down next to her.

"Come on," she insisted. "Tell me. You haven't been yourself recently. What's been going on?"

Tenten couldn't help but smile at Ino's sudden sister-like attitude. Normally being the helpful mentor was her speciality.

"Alright," Tenten agreed. "It's Neji and Lee. They've suddenly become extreme rivals who are now pushing themselves beyond their…and my…physical limits."

Ino thought for a moment.

"You mean like Naruto and Sasuke were?"

Tenten nodded. "Something like that. But unlike Sasuke, Neji can't just wander off to the Sound Village. That seems to be one of his biggest frustrations. And Lee's attitude isn't helping matters."

Ino nodded understandingly.

"But what was that about your physical limits?" she asked.

"Well," Tenten explained. "They seem to need me to assist them with their training methods. And this is both of them, so I'm now running both of the busiest schedules in the Leaf Village. And I also feel so…"

Tenten searched around for the right word.

"…second-rate! It's always them and their training, not mine, and it has always been. Especially in the chuunin exams…" Tenten cringed at the memory of her crushing defeat in the third exam preliminary rounds. That level of fighting skill was not one she wanted to go back to.

"And," she continued. "One of these days they're going to do themselves lasting harm." She rolled her eyes upward and sighed. "Its driving me round the bend. All the stress has had a bad effect on my training." She gestured toward the trees with the completely missed targets on them. "The kunai I threw hit Naruto," she continued. "And then I got really angry with him."

Ino paused for thought again.

"To be honest," she said. "Naruto deserved that. But Lee and Neji know not to push themselves to the extremes. Is it really that bad?"

Tenten chuckled darkly.

"Oh," she said. "You have no idea…"

* * *

"_To prove myself to Gai-sensei and Neji," Lee declared. "I will scale the Hokage monument one-handed!"_

"_So," Tenten said, half-exasperated, half-amused. "You're now going with some of Kakashi-sensei's style?"_

"_Oh yes!" Lee cried, pumping the air with his fist. "Just watch me!"_

_Because it offered a break from training, Tenten agreed to. By the time she had got to the monument, Lee was already a quarter of the way up, sweating feverishly, one hand clinging to the rock._

"_I can't help noticing," Tenten called up to him. "That this cliff-face is almost absolutely sheer. Couldn't you find something easier to scale?"_

"_No!" Lee replied stubbornly. "Once I get to the Hokage's faces, it will be much easier!" _

_He gave a grand leap, and scrabbled to cling onto a piece of jutting-out rock with his one hand. He winced slightly as it dug into his palm, but he felt his cause was just._

_Tenten looked on anxiously. A large rock underneath the Fourth Hokage's chin looked like it could come loose if just enough pressure was put upon it…_

"_Look…Lee!" she called up to him, trying to reason with his absurd goal. "Why don't you just come down and use your First Gate body strength too…practice the Lotus or something?"_

"_The First Inner Gate isn't open," Lee replied simply. "I'm going to do it better than Kakashi!"_

"_WHAT?" Tenten screamed in disbelief at him. "How the…?"_

_She then noticed a rockslide was starting.  
_

* * *

"And if Kakashi hadn't happened to be passing," Tenten concluded. "Who knows what would have happened?"

Ino winced.

"Well," she said. "OK, maybe it is challenging…" she bit her lip as she thought.

"Alright," she said finally, standing up. "I'll get Shikamaru and Chōji to keep a close watch on them both, and try to intervene if they do anything brash."

"Oh, no you don't have to…" Tenten protested.

"In the meantime," Ino cut across her firmly. "I suggest you go home and get some rest. Seriously. If your aim is so poor that you missed Naruto's head…"

Tenten smiled in spite of herself.

"…then you definitely need to catch up on some sleep," Ino finished on a more serious note.

Tenten beamed and nodded.

"OK, will do. Thanks Ino, you're a really great friend."

Ino beamed too.

"Thanks!" she said. "I suppose I owe it to you anyway!"

As Ino walked away, Tenten smiled once again as she remembered the occasion Ino had referred to. At one point, she was completely smitten and infatuated with Shikamaru, but never thought that Shikamaru would take notice of her, due to his lazy attitude and her constant Sasuke flirting. This is when she and Tenten had first really gotten on – Tenten had given Ino the confidence she had needed to ask Shikamaru out, and now the two of them were the cutest couple in Konoha.

Well, Tenten thought, happy for the first time in weeks, Ino was now returning the favour.

* * *

The blood-stained floor was not a particularly appealing sight, but at least it distracted Tenten from the lifeless bodies of her two team-mates.

Gai was looking at her with a very sombre expression.

"I cannot believe you would let this happen, Tenten!" he snapped. "You were supposed to stop them from going overboard!"

Tenten didn't know what to say. She dropped to ground in front of her two fallen comrades, and she could almost hear them yelling at her for not helping them…

Then she woke up.

Gasping and sweating, she gazed around her room briefly; just double-checking there was no blood or bodies. When she discovered there wasn't, she collapsed backwards and closed her eyes.

This was getting too much for her to handle. Even though she had slept for a long time, it hadn't helped much, as she had been constantly plagued by nightmares such as that one.

Before she could have more time to ponder on this, the door burst open, and to her intense astonishment, into her room came none other than Rock Lee.

She stared at him for a few seconds before she realised there was a boy in her bedroom and pulling the covers right up to her chin, her face burning like some sort of Fire Style jutsu.

"Lee!" she rebuked him angrily. "Don't you know not to come into a girls' room?"

Lee recoiled.

"I am sorry Tenten!" he replied. "It is just I felt like seeing how you are keeping this morning."

He gave a slight bow of the head.

"Well…thanks Lee," Tenten replied, quite perplexed. It had been a while since either of her team-mates had showed any acknowledgement of her well-being.

"You do not have to help me train today," Lee informed her. "As I will be fighting Neji. Goodbye."

And with that, he sprinted out of the door.

"What? No! Lee, come back!" Tenten shouted after him. He didn't respond.

On an impulse, Tenten leapt out of bed. She knew she had to stop them at all costs. Those two never knew when to stop. If they fought for long enough, they could end up killing each other…and it would be her fault.

* * *

"So, Neji!" Lee shouted across the training field. "Are you prepared for this?"

"More prepared than you would think!" Neji growled.

A light breeze rippled the grass that gathered around their ankles, creating a perfectly dramatic atmosphere.

Even from this distance, their eyes were firmly locked onto each other, almost unblinkingly.

Neji placed his hands in an appropriate hand-sign.

"Byakugan!"

His kekkei genkai was activated, and although he was focused on Lee, his enhanced vision led him to discover that they were not alone.

Tenten had just arrived, panting, at the scene.

"We don't need an audience," Neji told her sharply. "Now leave."

"No." Tenten was obstinate. "I'm not letting you two kill each other." Although she hung back near the trees, her hawk-like surveillance of them was absolute.

Neji sighed. This was so exasperating!

"Fine!" he snapped. "But I highly doubt your intervention will make any difference."

If that scathing remark had any effect on Tenten, she didn't show it. Instead, she just stood there, with her arms folded, waiting.

Without further ado, Lee decided it was time to spring into action. He left his still position and sprinted directly towards Neji.

"Ah! Leaf Hurricane!" he cried, swinging his foot at his opponent. Neji already had his hands in the correct position to defend himself, and then, as Lee began to right himself, he brought his palm forward. Lee managed to dodge it, land on his feet and prepare for another attack.

Each blow Lee then sent Neji's way was easily blocked by Neji's Gentle Fist technique. This went on for a bit, before Neji managed to lock Lee's arms in his own, and, having secured his defences, he let loose a kick straight to Lee's chest.

Lee, recoiled, but then leapt up and retaliated by aiming a kick at Neji's head. Neji avoided it, but was unable to avoid Lee's second kick, which hit him squarely in the chest, and caused him to lose his footing, but then quickly right himself by rolling into a standing position again.

Tenten looked on. They seemed to be equally strong. With this revelation came a faint glimmer of hope. Maybe if they continued fighting like this, they would eventually both tire themselves out and consider it a draw? That would certainly take a weight off her chest.

But Neji had now decided to get things moving. Avoiding Lee's next Leaf Hurricane, he got into a professional stance, his arms spread wide.

"Oh no…" Tenten muttered. "Not that…!"

"Eight Trigrams! Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji snarled. With frightening speed, he advanced upon Lee and began striking him rapidly.

"Four palms…eight palms…sixteen palms…thirty-two palms…"

With one final swing of his hand, Neji's sixty-fourth blow sent Lee flying backwards, coughing up blood in the process.

As Neji stood there panting at Lee's half-conscious figure on the ground, Tenten, despite being worried for Lee, was glad that the worst was over…

Yeah right.

"Do not be so hasty to gloat!" Lee grunted, as he staggered to his feet. That was the problem with Lee. Too persistent for his own good.

"No Lee!" Tenten called to him. "Just accept Neji's won for the time being and…"

"That," Lee cut in. "I cannot do."

He then held out what he was clutching…a pair of leg weights.

Without waiting for a reaction from either Tenten or Neji, he flung them to the ground, leaving deep craters where they were dropped. Then he moved.

It was still an awe-inspiring sight. Lee became nothing but a blur as he circled Neji and began to lay strikes on him. Even with the Byakugan, Neji was not able to block all of them. Many strikes landed on his chest, face and arms, and he had to recoil to absorb the impact.

Growling, he looked up at the blur which had now stopped moving.

Lee smiled at him, and then, with a very quick move, he loosened the bandages around his arms.

"If you're going to try that with me…" Neji began, but didn't have time to finish his sentence, as Lee had skidded forward with a powerful upper kick, sending him shooting into the air.

The dancing leaf shadow served Lee well, as he shot up beside Neji, restrained his arms with his bandages and began to pile-drive him toward the ground.

"Primary Lotus!"

"_I can't hit the ground like this!"_ Neji thought desperately, using his jyuuken chakra under the bandages.

"Eight Trigrams, Vacuum Palm!"

Therefore, when the impact arrived, it was partially cushioned. Though, I say partially.

Neji, spluttering on the ground, looked up at Lee.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" he declared, leaping to his feet to continue the fight.

As Tenten watched, she felt that she must intervene somehow, and soon, but was unsure how. As Neji had said, with these two accomplished fighters, how could she possibly stop them?

Lee, after having just battled off a barrage of Gentle Fist strikes, clenched his muscles.

"Second Gate, Gate of Healing…open!" he shouted, as his body was temporarily re-energised.

"NO LEE!" Tenten screamed. "You can't! Look what happened to you last time you did that!"

"I…know what I'm doing Tenten!" Lee grunted. "This time I don't need to open all five of my inner gates!"

"That's what you think!" Neji snarled, running towards him and preparing to strike.

"Third Gate, Gate of Life…OPEN!" Lee yelled, his body glowing green and his skin turning red. Neji had to use the Palm Rotation to avoid the intense blast of chakra radiating from his body.

Lee then attacked. With such powerful taijutsu, Neji had to use the Palm Rotation again twice. But the third time, Lee got to him.

An insanely powerful kick sent Neji sky-high, and as Lee leapt up to join him, determination in his eyes, Neji had no doubt what he was about to do.

"HIDDEN LOTUS!" Lee roared.

Tenten gasped in horror. That attack was easily powerful enough to kill Neji.

Neji obviously thought this too. He spread his arms.

"Protective Eight Trigrams!" he yelled. "One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms!"

"_That could kill Lee, too!"_ Tenten realised. This had gone way beyond a regular sparring match. She had to intervene.

Pulling a scroll from her pocket, Tenten then leapt up to join the violently fighting pair, seconds from collision. She hoped that her weapon summoning would be able to break the two of them up. It wasn't an ideal plan, but she had to stop them.

Even if it killed her.

**Cliffhanger!**

**Well, that's it. If you liked it, stay tuned for the next chapter. If you didn't like it, don't.**

**Just a message about my other fanfic, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Comparatively, I haven't updated it in a while. Don't worry – the next chapter is coming – I just don't know when.**

**Rate and Review!**


	2. Plans Anew

**Well, as promised, here's the next chapter of Caught in The Crossfire. A very, VERY big thank you to all of the fans and reviewers to this, but especially so to three in particular:**

**Firstly, jasmineflowr19876, who has been given me very positive feedback and encouragement. Thanks!**

**Secondly, to Aimii0, who is one of my best friends on FF and has helped me very much to come out of my shell,**

**And finally, to Zerojackson, whom I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without.**

**OK, so I'm just going to shut up now, and let you read the story. Sorry if it's a little late.**

Chapter Two: Plans Anew

The whirling masses of glowing green and blue flew ever closer towards each other, each one focused on just one thing. Proving themselves to be the superior.

But they were delusional. Only one person in the vicinity knew what would really happen if those two masses glowing with chakra were to collide, and that's why Tenten had to stop them.

As she soared through the air towards them, she began to unravel the scroll she had in her hand, going through all the other possibilities in her head. There really were none. She cursed herself for not getting other help earlier, like ANBU. It may seem a bit dramatic, but dramatic was exactly the word to describe what was going on before her very eyes.

The light from Neji's kaiten and Lee's Inner Gate Formation was beginning to blind her, so she squinted, but focused on the two points of light all the same.

She was about to summon some shuriken, when the light disappeared.

"_What?"_ she was shocked. _"How did that…?"_ Caught off guard, she lost control of her momentum, lost her grip on her scroll, and suddenly found herself plummeting through the air.

Before she hit the ground, she felt something thud into her stomach, completely knocking the wind out of her, but then she felt a strong arm grip her torso tightly.

She then felt the impact of landing, and was set down onto the ground. As she lay on her back panting, she took a good look at her rescuer. She recognised the bushy eyebrows, green spandex, flak jacket and bowl cut at once.

It was her sensei, Might Gai.

Gai flashed a white-toothed smile at his student, which was customary for whenever he showed up, whether unexpectedly or otherwise.

"Gai-sensei…" Tenten panted. "What are you…?"

"I could ask you the same thing Tenten!" Gai boomed jovially.

"I see you were trying to break up Lee and Neji's fight! A youthful selfless move to say the least! I'm all for selflessness, but in this case…" he quickly reached down and yanked her out of the way as a hailstorm of small rocks and stones began to shower down.

"What was that?" Tenten was confused. "Where are Lee and…?"

Then she noticed her two team mates, sitting quite dazed a few feet away, both seemingly unsure what had happened.

"I had to break up the fight," Gai informed her. And suddenly, Tenten understood. A substitution jutsu. But then she realised with a slight chill, that that shower of rocks was once just two rocks.

After seeing that Tenten had survived his extreme entrance, Gai turned his attention to his two male students, his face more serious.

"I really don't know what you two were thinking," he said with some disdain. "Neji, I thought you had more sense than this. And Lee! You know full well that that attack is well and truly forbidden except in extreme circumstances!"

Despite his muscle tears, Lee immediately leapt to his feet and saluted his idol.

"But Gai-sensei!" he protested. "With all due respect – you told me that the Hidden Lotus must be used in order to maintain and protect one's own ninja way…"

"I did say that, yes," Gai agreed. "But if you turn a sparring match into an extreme everything-goes fight…"

"Gai-sensei," Tenten interrupted, rising also. "This was always more than just a sparring match. Lee and Neji have been at each other's throats for weeks and…"

"Yes, I'm well aware of that," Gai cut across her smoothly. "Shikamaru told me everything."

"Shikamaru?" Tenten repeated, confused. "What does he have to do with…?"

Then she remembered what Ino had said to her yesterday.

"_Thanks Ino,"_ she thought with gratitude.

"I suppose he told you what they were doing here?" Tenten asked.

"Indeed he did!" Gai replied, his flash-toothed smile firmly back in place. "So this is why, Lee, Neji, I shall now train you for your next encounter!"

His three students stared at him. What was he talking about?

Gai's smile widened at the look of bewilderment on their faces.

"I shall put it to you this way," he explained. "I see nothing wrong with rivalry. I myself have a rival…" his face twitched slightly as he thought of Kakashi. Then he came to his senses, and beamed.

"That is why I want you to release every ounce of that youthful energy you have!" he declared jubilantly.

"What? Gai-sensei!" Tenten protested. "They might kill each other!"

"Relax, Tenten!" Gai replied. "I know what I'm doing. There is a way to exhaust rivalry without using forbidden A-rank techniques. All you need to do is listen to the master!"

Lee immediately sprung into a salute, fierce admiration burning in his eyes. Neji too was watching their sensei closely.

"Taijutsu," Gai explained. "Is both your specialties. Fancy names, hand-signs and extreme chakra exhaustion are not needed for such simple techniques. If you can spar frequently with just pure, honest taijutsu, then you will be satisfied, I can guarantee!"

Gai's guarantee didn't go down well. Tenten was now seeing something she had never expected to see –

Lee was looking at Gai in disbelief. Lee NEVER disagreed with what Gai said!

Neji had a surly expression on his face. He too was in complete disagreement.

The problem was that Neji and Lee's rivalry didn't work the same way as Gai and Kakashi's or even Naruto and Sasuke's. Instead of just proving who was the better, they were trying to prove whose WAY was best, and whether you were born what you would always be, or if hard work takes you places beyond the Kages. Such conflicting ideologies couldn't be decided or measured by simple spars and stale-mates – Neji and Lee either had to fight to the near death, or simply agree to disagree. And Tenten knew them better than that.

Gai was now explaining how his combat techniques worked. He obviously was not reading the clues in his male students' faces. Neji and Lee could agree on one thing – and that was not to follow his instructions.

Tenten was about to say something, when Gai turned to her grinning.

"And now you can go home and rest Tenten! Take a well-earned break!"

"But Gai-sensei…"

"Don't argue Tenten!" Gai laughed. "Are you protesting against relaxation? Even the most youthful must rest from time to time! Go! Your work is all done!"

"_Oh, Gai-sensei,"_ Tenten thought miserably as she walked away. _"If only that were the case…"  
_

* * *

The evening air was flawlessly mixed with the warm aroma of food. Food that was either being fried at the ramen stand, barbequed at Yakiniku Q or being eaten by the content residents of Konoha. As Tenten walked through the busy streets filled with people going about their daily lives, she caught glimpses of the scenes that were mixed with these sweet aromas. Naruto at Ichiraku was hollering ecstatically at Teuchi, complimenting his fifth bowl of ramen. Choji staggered out of Yakiniku Q under the weight of everything he had eaten. The Amaguriama shop was packed with happy customers, but despite all this, even with the sunset casting a gorgeous golden-orange light across the evening sky, Tenten was still wallowing in despair.

She felt like she had failed. She had failed to stop Lee and Neji going overboard. She knew Gai meant well, but he was only making things worse. She didn't know what to do anymore.

She passed the Dango shop, but then paused and retraced her steps.

Oh, why not?

She walked in, and the first thing that caught her eye was Anko, sitting there, already tucking into the dango. She waved as Tenten entered.

"How're ya doing…umm…?"

"Tenten."

"Yeah. Sorry." Anko took another bite.

"OK, I don't have much time to talk – I'm needed at a jōnin meeting, but we can still talk…partially."

Tenten was quite perplexed. It wasn't every day you got spontaneously talked at by exam proctor professional jōnin.

She took a seat opposite Anko, and looked around awkwardly.

"So…umm…how are you?" she asked as politely as she could.

"I'm doing fine!" Anko replied jovially, flinging her empty skewer down onto the table so it stuck there. "I'm always fine with a bit of dango…" She smiled seductively at the red bean paste upon her dumplings.

"I've always found," she continued, picking up her next skewer, "that the people here really know how to please me. They saw what effect this dango was having on me, and so they did everything in their power to make sure I enjoyed this place even more!" she winked at the young man behind the counter. Then, she winked at the girl behind the counter also.

"It's simple enough," Anko continued, throwing down her last skewer. "Unless you show people how they're affecting you, they're not going to do anything about it. See ya!"

And she walked out.

Tenten sat very quietly, going over what Anko had just said.

"_Unless you show people how they're affecting you, they're not going to do anything about it."_

What did those words mean to her?

It was simple enough really. The key to her stopping Lee and Neji from killing each other was to simply show them. Show them what it was doing to her, both mentally and physically. Would it be easy though?

She was plucked sharply from her deep thoughts as she heard someone else entering the shop. She twisted round, a couldn't help but smile as she saw Ino striding into the shop, pulling her irritable, blushing date Shikamaru by the hand in after her.

"C'mon Shika! Just for tonight!"

"The dango's scent makes me cough," Shikamaru complained. "And I swear Anko gave me a funny look as she…"

"Oh, hi Tenten!" Ino smiled, obviously completely oblivious to everything her boyfriend had just said.

"Hey, Ino," Tenten replied, still thinking about the issues facing her.

"Did Gai-sensei arrive in time?" Shikamaru asked her, sitting down.

"Yeah," Tenten replied. "Just. Thanks for that, but in all honesty, I think you may have made it worse…"

She then explained to them everything that had happened, with Gai's ideas for training methods, Lee and Neji's expressions, and everything Anko had said. Their results were pretty predictable.

"What a drag!" Shikamaru mumbled, earning a stern glare from Ino, who then sighed.

"At least Gai coming in has bought us time," she remarked.

Tenten was puzzled.

"Us?"

"Yes." Ino was adamant. "We're not leaving you out on your own. We're helping you now."

Tenten beamed.

"Thanks," she said, feeling she'd been saying that a lot to her lately.

"Well," Shikamaru commented. "I think we should put this idea of Anko's into practice."

The girls looked at him quizzically.

"As said," the lazy genius continued, "we need a plan that will show the two of them just what's happening to you."

"How?"

"Hell's bells, Ino, stop asking so many questions, babe," Shikamaru muttered. "OK, basically we need to find out where they're going to have their next death match. There we can show them the truth.

"A simple tool is needed – genjutsu. But not just an illusion – something that will illustrate exactly what's been going through your head Tenten."

Tenten was reminded of the horrific dream she had had last night.

"How do we do that?" she asked.

"Well," Shikamaru continued. "I was speaking with Kurenai-sensei the other day, and apparently, she's developed a genjutsu which displays exactly what's going on a certain persons' mind. A great physcological weapon naturally. Once we find out where they're fighting, we set you in place, the genjutsu is performed, and the plan is complete. Me and Ino will make sure the area is cleared whilst we're doing it. I don't know if it will work, but from what I heard, the genjutsu shows mental traumas as physical injuries, so it sounds promising."

"Alright," Tenten replied. "Sounds reasonable – but how are we supposed to know where Neji and Lee will be fighting? They're not exactly going to tell me are they?"

"I've thought of that," Shikamaru replied evenly. We get someone to go to Lee – since he's more likely to answer – and tell him he's needed for something during the evening or night, which is the most likely time to fight Neji. His excuse for why he can't may give us some insight into where he's going. If he's persuaded into leaving, then all the better for us! But obviously if it's one of us who tells him, it'll raise suspicion…"

Shikamaru pondered for a while. Then he said,

"We'll have to tell someone Lee really IS needed for something. We can't tell them the true motive."

Tenten started to laugh.

"Oh come on!" she said. "No-one's going to fall for that! They'd have to be…really thick…"

* * *

Tenten found Naruto the next morning, by the Ichiraku ramen stand as usual, downing his second bowl of ramen of the day.

"Hey, Naruto," she greeted him. "How're things? Err…how's your arm?"

Naruto paused and turned to her, and she had to wait until he had finished his mouthful.

"Alright…" he muttered, clearly still offended.

"Sorry about that the other day…" Tenten replied awkwardly, shrugging.

Naruto rolled his eyes, but seemed to forgive her.

"But here's something I want you to do…" Tenten added, leaning closer to him.

"I need you to pass a message onto Lee."

"Bushy-brow?"

"Yes. How many other Lees do you know? He's invited to a special get-together that Shikamaru's organised. Something to do with the anniversary of us all doing the chuunin exams, I think." She was making it all up of course – but it had to convince Naruto.

"He needs to be there at 2100 hours." That was reasonable enough. That was one of Lee's fixed times for training. "If he can't make it…I want to know why!"

"Hold on!" Naruto began, "How come…?"

But Tenten had already gone. She needed to prepare the next phase of the plan.

* * *

Kurenai began to make hand-signs.

"OK, Tenten," she said. "Brace yourself. This isn't going to be a particularly enjoyable experience."

Tenten, who was sat with closed eyes on a chair in a darkened room, automatically clenched her muscles. But nothing could prepare for what was to come.

Kurenai made the appropriate hand-signs, and then put her hands on the sides of Tenten's head.

Hundreds of things began to flash through Tenten's mind…Lee and Neji speeding towards each other, glowing with chakra…them colliding, their blood-stained bodies on the floor…

With Tenten's own lying next to them…

Her eyes flew open and she quickly staggered to her feet. She leaned heavily against the wall, and then vomited in the corner.

Kurenai watched her retch sadly.

"I did tell you it was too much for someone of your age," she said, as Tenten collapsed weakly back into the chair. "I wish Shikamaru had told you."

Tenten panted.

"I've got to do it," she insisted. "There's no other choice sensei."

Kurenai gazed at the determined teen kunoichi, physically and emotionally exhausted, yet at the same time absolutely unyielding. She knew she couldn't let her down, and so, she nodded.

"OK, Tenten," she said. "I'll try again. This time prepare yourself for what you now know is coming."

Tenten nodded and closed her eyes, thinking about the dead bodies again, and hoping it wouldn't seem too bad to see them again this time.

Kurenai placed her hands on the side of Tenten's head.

Immediately, the thoughts of Neji and Lee disappearing in a cloud of blood and violence invaded Tenten's mind once again, but she forced herself not to throw up again.

"Concentrate on how this is affecting you," Kurenai advised. "Imagine the pain…the fear of them both dying due to your mistake…"

Tenten concentrated. She concentrated on the deep, yawning chasm of horror the she fell into every time she thought about their fights, their training, their powerful moves…it made her want to positively scream in misery and anguish, but she naturally refrained.

"OK, you've done it," came Kurenai's voice. "Open your eyes!"

When Tenten did, what she saw before her made her gasp and gape in horror. She had never seen anything like it before.

Right in front of her was…

Herself.

But this Tenten was not a calm, collected individual. This Tenten was on the floor, curled up, hugging her knees and sobbing quietly. Tenten stared with mixed fascination and horror into her own eyes, which were streaming with tears. This endless stream of tears ran down a cut, bruised and blood-stained face, and this pattern of wounds was repeated all over her body, some still bleeding.

The real Tenten put a hand to her mouth, and choked back a sob of her own.

Kurenai quickly performed a hand-sign, and the genjutsu Tenten vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What you just saw," she said levelly, "was what's going on inside your mind. The Tenten we see most of the time is calm, collected, witty…but this is the real Tenten we see there…frightened, alone, grieving…If Neji and Lee saw the true you, I'm sure they would have a change of heart."

Tenten wiped her tears from her eyes.

"Thanks, Kurenai," she whispered.

"Unfortunately," Kurenai continued. "That was the easy part. Now, you have to learn it yourself."

Tenten, to her own surprise more than Kurenai's, nodded.

* * *

About an hour later, she left the dark, secret training building, shaking like a leaf, and with red and puffy eyes. But she was determined. And ready.

Shikamaru and Ino were waiting outside. Ino looked concerned.

"Are you alright?" she asked anxiously, running towards Tenten and looking her up and down for any signs of physical ailments.

"I'll be fine," she replied, smiling. "What news?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a cry of,

"HEY! TENTEN!"

The three of them turned to see Naruto running down the street toward them. He skidded to a halt in front of them, and put his hands on his knees, panting and wheezing.

"I've been looking for you all day!" he gasped. "Bushy Brow said…he wouldn't be able…to make it…as…" he wiped his brow. "He'll be training on the Hokage monument tonight…"

Ino gasped. Tenten scowled. Trust Lee to meet Neji for their fight on top of the Hokage monument! No wonder he hadn't minded telling Naruto where he was going. Nobody would be able to get up their anyway.

"But I'd like to come to this get-together!" Naruto declared, giving everyone his trademark grin.

"Err…actually, Naruto, it was cancelled," Shikamaru replied at once. Naruto looked deeply offended.

"Well!" he snapped back at them. "I'll just go for some ramen then!"

And with that, he stalked off.

"Well, at least now we know everything we need to," Tenten commented, trying to remain positive.

"But the Hokage monument…" Ino was pretty shocked.

"I'll find a way up there," Tenten replied impatiently. "I just need you two to keep everyone else away from it. I'm sure you can manage that. Remember, it's 2100 hours tonight."

* * *

The stars twinkled merrily in the deep ocean-blue calm sky that covered Konoha. The half-moon shone even brighter, casting a crescent-shaped beam of light on the still buildings, and on the stone faces of the Hokages, who seemed to be watching over the village.

But if they were watching over it, there was one thing they didn't see. And that was a green-clad genin, pacing around just above the First Hokage's head, waiting…

Rock Lee allowed the night breeze to ruffle his bowl-cut hair affectionately. He couldn't have picked a better night or a better location.

"I see you arrived here early," came a voice of forced calm.

Lee glanced across to the top of the Fourth Hokage's head. Neji Hyūga was walking towards him, his Byakugan already activated.

Lee smiled cockily.

"Yes – anything to get ahead of you before we've even begun!" he declared. Neji's eyebrows knitted themselves into an ugly scowl. They'd hit it off already, and the way Neji was looking at Lee's smirking head, Lee figured he'd like to hit that off too.

Dropping his leg weights at once, he charged forwards at least twice the regular human speed.

"Eight Trigrams, Palm Rotation!" Neji stated loudly, and Lee's flying Leaf Hurricane had no effect. But Lee was not about to give up. Even if anyone figured out he was disobeying Gai, they would never find them up here. This time, he was confident he would secure a win.

* * *

The noises of commotion of the battle raging upon Konoha's greatest monument soon reached the ears of two young shinobi. Shikamaru and Ino had managed to clear this area of people for the time being. But in the absence of people, there was also the absence of Tenten. She was already late.

"Wait," Shikamaru said, holding up a hand. "I think I can see her!"

Tenten was running at full sprint towards the couple, a large rucksack on her back.

"What's that for?" Ino asked, as Tenten skidded to a halt of front of them.

"Makeshift climbing equipment," the weapon kunoichi replied, placing her luggage down and showing the two of them the contents. Nylon wire attached to uniquely shaped kunai, the form of the blades perfect for gripping into rock. The wire was thin, but incredibly strong.

"Are you sure you're prepared for this, Tenten?" Ino asked nervously.

"Of course I am," Tenten beamed, packing the equipment back into her bag and slinging it back over her shoulders. The two girls shared a brief hug, and Tenten then set off.

"OK," Shikamaru said. "We need to protect this pathway at both ends. If anyone sees Tenten doing this forbidden jutsu, we're all in deep trouble, and so is Kurenai-sensei."

"I'm sure we'll pull it off," Ino assured him. "I'm more worried about Tenten…"

"She'll be fine, babe," Shikamaru told her. "Now, let's get to it!"

Ino smiled at her boyfriend and briefly kissed him on the lips before running to the far end of the pathway encircling the Hokage monument.

* * *

It wasn't an easy climb, but indignance and determination kept Tenten at it. Already, she could hear the sounds of Lee and Neji's battle drawing ever closer. She was partially glad that she couldn't see what was happening. If she could, she thought she might've lost her grip on the climbing rope and fall…

With thoughts of falling on her mind, Tenten automatically looked behind her and down, even though she knew it was a bad idea to do so. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw what a long way down it was, and she was only half-way up…

Tenten had never been particularly afraid of heights – after all, her Rising Twin Dragons attack caused her to practically fly. But right now her chakra levels were not up to scratch, and she wasn't being levitated by the force of the summoning chakra. She felt very vulnerable. But she didn't stop climbing either.

* * *

Her palms were sore from where they had been digging into the climbing rope, but eventually, Tenten found herself above the Third Hokage's head. She tossed a kunai attached to the rope that was tied around her waist over the top, and she soon heard the thud of it as it hit the rocky top, and the rope around her waist became tighter. She knew that she wasn't too heavy…those climbing kunai could grip into rock so well that they could carry attached weights of two tonnes.

Making sure her feet were firmly placed onto the rock face, Tenten peered over the top.

The fight scene before her was undesirable – Lee was using his First Inner Gate Body strength to try a hammer Neji into the ground. Neji's Eight Trigram techniques were not doing a lot for Lee either.

Both boys had blood mixed with sweat running down their faces, and yet they both glared into each other's eyes like deep and loathe-worthy enemies before continuing to fight.

Tenten resisted the urge to leap in a break them both up. She had a job to do. So far, it seemed they hadn't noticed her. Well, that would change.

Proceeding to make complicated hand-sings, Tenten then placed her hands in the sign that Ino regularly used before her Mind Transfer Jutsu.

"_Secret Ninja Art,"_ she thought. _"Inner Turmoil Display!"_

Concentrating hard on what all this intense rivalry was doing to her, the blood-stained, weeping Tenten soon appeared in front of the fighting pair.

Tenten waited intently for their reaction. Whether it be a complete stop or just a pause for thought from either of them, it would be enough. Then she'd reveal to them what this genjutsu was.

Nothing happened.

Lee and Neji just continued fighting, a long range of hand-to-hand combat styles as was custom. From what Tenten could see from their facial expressions, they hadn't taken the slightest notice of the genjutsu Tenten.

Tenten felt she couldn't even rely on her emotions now. At first, she felt a deep sense of despair, but by the time she had made the genjutsu doppelgänger disappear, she was livid.

How dare they not notice her there? After all she had done for them, and all she had been through to get this far, this was what happened? Hell, they didn't even show surprise that Tenten had got to the top of the Hokage Monument. It looked as though she didn't even exist to them anymore.

Fighting back a loud scream of fury, Tenten reached into her pouch a pulled out 3 shuriken. She would force them apart if she had to.

But as she prepared the throw the weapons, something happened.

Lee had sprinted towards Neji and leapt into the air with his leg raised, crying,

"Severe Leaf Hurricane!" At the same time, Neji was sprinting towards Lee, his arm held back, palm facing forwards.

"Eight Trigrams, Vacuum Palm!" he shouted.

These two attacks met, and the intense force of chakra forced the two fighters apart. Unfortunately, this chakra blast reverberated across the top of the monument…

And severed the rope that was holding Tenten to the rock.

She knew something was wrong the second she felt the rope go slack, but she was so angry, she couldn't work out what until she saw the rope begin to fall and felt herself falling with it.

Desperately, she attempted to use her chakra to cling to the rock-face but a sudden avalanche of stones was making that impossible. She plummeted with increasing speed.

Her screams split the night air in two like a senbon, and finally, Lee and Neji reacted. In unison, they ran over to the edge of the top of the monument, and they both watched in horror as their team-mate fell all the way down.

* * *

Gai walked out of the room and gently shut the door behind him. He then gazed at his two male students, who were standing awkwardly by the window-sill. Gai's stern expression told them he wasn't messing about.

"This was the exact reason you needed to obey my orders," he informed them. "You disobeyed me, and here you are paying the price. You understand that, don't you?"

Neji and Lee both nodded meaningfully.

"Dire actions have dire consequences," Gai continued. "And they can easily affect people close to you in ways that you almost could never imagine."

Neji and Lee both muttered their agreement.

"You're very lucky," Gai continued. "That she wasn't killed. But I think two broken legs and a severely bruised back are evidence enough that you shouldn't do this anymore.

"You both set out to prove who was the better – so I shall tell you: Neither of you are yet. Tenten has proved to be better than both of you in so many ways, so you shall have to train hard, and work together, to see if you can improve. So I think apologies are needed. First to me…"

"Sorry Gai-sensei."

"To each other…"

"Sorry, Neji."

"Sorry, Lee."

"And most importantly to Tenten. But not just yet. I think she's had enough of you two for a while. Now, go to the training field and wait for me there. It's time we began my new training method."

The two of them left in silence.

* * *

Just beyond the closed door was a hospital bed. Sitting in it was Tenten, albeit battered and bruised, but very much alive.

She was currently flicking through a copy of Icha Icha that Kakashi had smuggled in for her. It was so far thoroughly enjoyable.

Despite her predicament, Tenten couldn't help but feel happy. Neji and Lee had stopped fighting, and they had taken to heart what was taking place inside her head after all. What they saw when she was taken into hospital was exactly what they would've seen in the genjutsu.

Placing the bookmark in the erotic book, she set it down on her bedside table and stretched, wincing slightly as she strained the cuts on her back.

Trying her best not to strain her immobile legs, she reached onto her bedside table and picked up the Get-Well card she had received, just to read through it again. Lee and Neji had got it together, which was a very sweet gesture. It was full of apologies of course, of all kinds. Tenten never knew there were so many ways to express apologies.

There was a knock on the door, and Tenten automatically put the card down.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened and Ino entered, her hands behind her back.

"Hi Tenten!" she said. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. Thanks Ino!" she smiled back. "How are things?"

"Great! Shikamaru's busy dealing with chuunin stuff, but he said he'd drop by later."

"Cool." Tenten gestured to an area on her bed which her legs were not resting so that Ino could sit down. She did, and stared at Tenten for about two seconds before clapping a hand to her mouth and bursting into tears.

"Hey, hey! What's wrong?" Tenten asked.

"I'm so sorry!" Ino gasped. "It's just…I should have done something more to help you with Lee and Neji…I'm such a useless, stupid…"

"I'm not having any of that," Tenten told her sharply. "Come here."

Ino hesitantly approached Tenten, and then the older kunoichi, ignoring the pain in her back, grabbed Ino in a firm embrace.

"I couldn't have done it without you," she told her insistently. "So stop that attitude."

"Thanks," Ino muttered, quite perplexed, wiping her tears away.

"What's that you've got in your hand?" Tenten asked, indicating the package Ino was holding tightly.

"Oh," Ino exclaimed, her mood changing completely. "It's for you. Lee and Neji wanted to show they were properly sorry, so they tried to hire the local blacksmith to make this for you. Me and Shikamaru got wind of it and helped them." She handed it to her.

"Hope you like it!" she said, smiling.

Tenten unwrapped the package. Inside was a katana, slim, lithe and perfectly balanced in her hand.

"Oh…it's perfect!" Tenten exclaimed excitedly, thinking of various different new training ideals. "I love it! Thanks so much! And send my thanks to Shikamaru, Neji and Lee as well!"

Ino beamed.

"Will do!" she said, standing up. "I'm afraid I've got to go now. But I'll see you whenever I can!"

"See you then!" Tenten replied, waving.

After she had left, Tenten placed the katana down beside her bed, deciding to think of a permanent home for it later. She picked the get-well card back up again, and began to read where she had left off. She got to a bit where Lee promised a Welcome Back party after she had come out of hospital. Tenten closed her eyes and smiled as she imagined it, a fiasco of youthful training, fun and food…possibly including ramen. Naruto would certainly want to be there. Chuckling softly to herself, she set the card down and picked the Icha Icha book up again, feeling that, at last, something good had come out of this after all.

**The End!**

**Well, you didn't really think I'd kill Tenten did you? Nah, I'm too soft for that, and I love a happy ending! Well, a thank you to all, and if you haven't yet read my other fanfic, For Whom the Bell Tolls, why not check it out? Have a good morning/afternoon/evening! **


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